1983
1983 Works
3D/Miscellaneous
This garment was first documented in a 1989 exhibition (dated to 1983).
Paintings
Series shown in 'Vox Pop' 1983: see Tattooed Feet 1983, Tattooed Hands 1983, Tattooed Head (1983) and Tattooed Penis (1983).
The imagery, based on a 15th-century woodcut, is sprayed over a map of Europe laid on canvas.
First shown in Arkley’s solo show at Roslyn Oxley9, Sydney, June 1983, and then purchased for Artbank.
Shown in Arkley's solo show at Roslyn Oxley9 June-July 1983, this canvas was based on Arkley's 'Zappo' composition first developed in 1982.
This work, first shown in Sydney in 1983, is closely related to Winds of War Graffiti 1983 [aka Billboard]
First shown in the McCaughey Prize, NGV, February 1983, as Romantic (Spot the Difference).
This canvas was exhibited and reproduced under several different titles, and also modified at some stage between 1983 and 1994.
The first of Arkley’s many suburban exteriors, first shown at Tolarno in 1983.
This work, the twin of Suburban Exterior (1983), is sprayed directly onto a wallpaper ground.
This work, which varies the composition of Untitled [study for Suburban] (1982), [W/P], was first exhibited in HA Roslyn Oxley9, 6/83, and then at ANZART in Edinburgh in 1984
This dark, theatrical painting, first shown in Arkley’s 1983 Tolarno exhibition, combines a paradoxical approach to space with a frankly graphic style.
Originally exhibited on its own, and then usually as part of the ‘Tattooed’ series (1983).
This canvas originally formed part of the 'Tattooed' series (1983); it was apparently later destroyed and replaced by the work on paper version Tattooed Penis 1983 [W/P].
This canvas, first shown in HA Tolarno 10/83, contains uncharacteristic gestures toward realism.
First shown in HA Tolarno 10/83 as 'Billboard'; subsequently exhibited and reproduced as Winds of War Graffiti.
Painting first shown as 'Lightning' at Roslyn Oxley9, June-July 1983, and thereafter as Zappo.
Works on Paper
Formerly in George Mora's collection; auctioned in 1992 and 1999.
Collaged works modelled on Surrealist artist Joán Miró’s ‘organic abstraction’ project.
This work was first shown as 'Lace-Lanced' at Roslyn Oxley9 in May 1984, and later as 'Lanced Lace'.
This work is related to Untitled [Icon study] (1982) [W/P], Icon (triptych) 1983, and the 'Tattooed' series (1983).
Used after 1983 as a substitute for the original canvas version in the 'Tattooed' series (1983).
Included in the exhibition of Australian drawings at the CDS Gallery in New York in 1984, and purchased for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Work on paper dateable to the planning period leading to Zappo (1983).
Works on Paper Minor
Numerous other works on paper, doodles etc., similar to Four Studies (1983) [W/P], also date from 1983 or thereabouts; many remained in the artist's studio collection at his death.
(photo: ‘Tattooed’ series as installed in ‘Vox Pop’, NGV, Dec.1983, including the original canvas version of Penis [photo reproduced from Cramer 1984])
In a busy year, during which he also taught part-time at the VCA (Duncan 1991: 23-24), Arkley produced a large number of works on both canvas and paper, and showed in a wide range of exhibitions.
His shift to figuration was now clear, signalled in his two one-man shows at Roslyn Oxley9, in June-July, and Tolarno in October-November. Both exhibitions contained strong indications of his future development, including his first explicit images of suburban houses. The Tolarno show – one of his most resolved and imaginative – received a particularly enthusiastic critical response (for details, see exhibition entry).
In ‘Vox Pop’, staged at the NGV at the end of the year, Arkley combined Tattooed Head (first shown at Tolarno in October) with three other body parts, to produce a series with multiple and complex associations and sources, notably Surrealism; for detailed comments, see catalogue entries.
Key examples of Arkley’s earlier style continued to appear in group shows, notably ‘A Melbourne Mood’, curated by Daniel Thomas and shown in Canberra.
1983 Exhibitions
‘The John McCaughey Memorial Art Prize 1983’, NGV, 10 Feb.-27 March (check-list in Arkley’s archive)
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- 3: Spot the Difference (Slow) 1983 [size given as 120 x 160]
- 4: Spot the Difference (Fast) 1983 [120 x 160]
‘Against the Wall: Works from the Michell Endowment of the National Gallery of Victoria)’, Melbourne University Gallery, 23 Feb.-1 April 1983 [cur.Robert Lindsay; catalogue/poster in Arkley’s archive]
‘Comic Stripping’, George Paton Gallery, University of Melbourne, 31 May-24 June 1983 [cur.Denise McGrath; catalogue in artist’s files]. Arkley contributed a double page of doodled sketches for the catalogue (the right page is reproduced in C.Fig.4.15), and 3 working drawings for the show as follows:
- ‘3 working drawings for recent paintings’: installation photos kindly provided by the University of Melbourne archives (July 2010) indicate that the works shown were Untitled [Suicide study] (1982-3) [W/P]; Nude dreaming of spiders 1982 [W/P] (with an additional collaged face on the upper left figure); and Untitled [Zappo study #1] (1982) [W/P].
‘Howard Arkley: Recent Works’, Roslyn Oxley9, Sydney, June-July 1983
– refer linked entry for full details
‘A Melbourne Mood: Cool Contemporary Art’, Australian National Gallery at Melville Hall, ANU, Canberra, 13 July-14 August 1983 [curated by Daniel Thomas; catalogue in Arkley archive]
- Tram Drawing 1980 [1] = Drawing for Decorated Tram Project 1980 [W/P]
- Tram Drawing 1980 [2] = Tram drawing 1980 [W/P]
- Silver Room 1980 = Room Interior 1980 [W/P]
- Red Dress 1980-81 = Dress 1980 [W/P]
- Cup and Saucer 1980-81: see Cup and Saucer 1980 [W/P]
- Table 1980-81 [W/P]
- W, V, X, T (Four Chairs) 1980-81 = Four Chairs W, V, X, T 1980 [W/P]
- Logitex (Table and chair tableau) 1980/1981/1983 = Logitex (table and chair tableau) (1980-84) [3/M] (NB the table & chair were not ready for the Canberra show; they were replaced by 2 chairs from the NGV’s Muzak Mural – Chair Tableau (1980-81) [3/M]: note in NGA cat., pp.10-11]
‘Transporting Art: Impressions of the Painted Trams Project’, Victorian Ministry for the Arts Gallery, Level 9, 168 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, 12 Sept.-14 Oct.1983 (‘Photographs by Stephen Hall, Andrew Lehmann and Greg Scullin, with a selection of the artists’ original sketches and plans’; catalogue/poster in artist’s files)
- Photos of Tram no.384 1980 [3/M]
‘Howard Arkley: Urban Paintings’, Tolarno, Oct.-Nov.1983
– refer linked entry for full details
‘The New Art’ (Michell Endowment), NGV at Banyule, 17 Nov.1983- ?
‘Vox Pop’, NGV, Dec.1983-12 Feb.1984 [cur.Robert Lindsay; catalogue: Lindsay 1983]
- ‘Tattooed’ series (1983) (inc. original Penis): see installation photo above